In two world wars New Zealanders left home to fight in the Middle East. When World War II was over, New Zealand remained committed to join Britain in defending its bases and lines of communications in the Middle East, should another major conflict break out. In 1956, after President Nasser of Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal, the British, French and Israeli governments colluded in an attempt to overthrow him by military means and restore international control of the canal.

New Zealand gave Britain full support in this ill-fated enterprise, came close to direct involvement in the invasion of Egypt and shared British humiliation as United States and United Nations pressure forced the abandonment of the action almost as soon as it had begun.

Incisively written and thoroughly researched, this book recounts and analyses these events from the perspective of the New Zealand Government at the time and casts new light on this aspect of New Zealand history. It describes how the Government was deceived about the collusion between Britain, France and Israel, and how it was torn between its ties with Britain, its alliance with the United States, and its adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.

Telling pictures of some of the politicians and civil servants involved add to the book's considerable interest.

Malcolm Templeton argues that the Suez crisis marked perhaps the last occasion on which New Zealand demonstrated its loyalty to the British Empire, despite serious misgivings about the wisdom of British policy, and confirmed a growing realisation that the country's strategic interests lay not in the Middle East but in South East Asia and the Pacific.

He also suggests that by revealing the dangers of abandoning well-established principles in favour of emotional ties, the crisis offered permanent lessons for the conduct of New Zealand's foreign policy.